By Tyler Kendall and Tim Carney
You can now manage your conservation activities and request assistance from USDA through a new feature on farmers.gov. These conservation features join several others already available through the farmers.gov portal, including the ability to view farm loan information.
Using a desktop, tablet, or phone, the “Conservation” feature enables you to:
- View, download and e-sign documents;
- Request conservation assistance;
- Reference technical terms and submit questions;
- Access information on current and past conservation practices; and
- View detailed information on all previous and ongoing contracts, including the amount of planned and received cost-share assistance.
Currently, access is only available for customers doing business as individuals. Entities – such as an LLC or Trust – can’t access the portal at this time, but access is being planned.
The new feature includes the most popular aspects from the NRCS Conservation Client Gateway (CCG), while providing enhanced functionality and an improved user experience. CCG is an NRCS portal for producers, but now these functionalities are being moved to farmers.gov to create one place to do business with NRCS, Farm Service Agency, and other USDA agencies. CCG will be actively maintained and supported until all its core features and functionalities have been migrated to farmers. gov later this year.
How to Access
- To access your conservation information, visit farmers.gov and sign in to the site’s authenticated portal, available on the menu at the top right of the site. To access, you will need a Level 2 USDA eAuthentication account.
- How to Create an eAuth Login to Access Your Farmers.gov Account
- Contact your local service center to confirm you have a USDA customer record with a primary email address. Use our Service Center Locator to find your local office.
- Go to the eAuth Account Registration page.
- Select "Customer" on the registration page.
- Enter your primary email address, which should match what USDA has on your customer record. You will receive an email from eAuthentication asking you to confirm your email address. Click the “Continue Registration” link in this email to continue the registration process. * Note: When you log in, your User ID will be your email address.
- Next, enter your name and set a password.
- Finally, you will need to verify your identity to access your farmers.gov account. You will be taken to a page where you will need to provide information such as your date of birth and residential address, and then you can either verify your identity online or in person at a Local Registration Authority (LRA).
- You’re ready to log in!
* Current CCG users can use their existing login and password to access the Conservation features on farmers.gov.
More Features to Come
USDA is building farmers.gov for farmers, by farmers. Future self-service features available through the farmers.gov portal include:
- Authority for FSA and NRCS customers to work in the portal and act on behalf of their active power-of-attorney entitlements and their current authorities for business entities,
- Updated e-sign capabilities to enhance the single and multi-signer functionalities and
- A document management system that enables customers to download, upload and interact with their important conservation practice and contract documents.
Download our conservation information on Farmers.gov
Source : farmers.gov